


In Sickness and In Health

by Libstar



Category: Holby City
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 03:23:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9697460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Libstar/pseuds/Libstar
Summary: Three times Serena gets sick and one time Bernie does





	

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is written proof that I should finish things when I start them instead of leaving them languishing on my iPad for weeks. I'm sure this flowed much better in my head when I sat down to write it the first time but I wanted to get it finished so here it is. Not at all my best work but never mind.

The first time Serena gets sick around her is long before they are together. They are friends, undoubtedly, and are in the middle of getting the trauma bay up and running, when she is struck down by a virus which is doing its rounds on the ward. She is everything Bernie has come to expect from sick doctors, an absolute nightmare, unwilling to listen to anyone else, unwilling to stop, unwilling to admit there's anything wrong with her at all.   
They've just got out of a tricky surgery that went on far longer than any of them could have anticipated when Bernie finds her leant up against a wall, her eyes closed, face pale. It's far more than post surgery exhaustion and even then Bernie has to battle with her need to look after her.   
'Serena,' she tries and she can see the effort it takes her to force her eyes open  
'I'm fine,I'm fine.' She pushes herself upright, wavering as her head spins and her eyes close and Bernie takes her arm gently, leads her towards the on call room. She knows that Serena won't go home, had tried several times throughout the shift to get her to do just that, but she must see that she needs to lie down before she falls down.   
'I have rounds to do Bernie.' She protests when she is practically manhandled down onto the bed   
'No, don't worry about rounds, lie down, close your eyes for half an hour and let me worry about that. I know you say you're fine but do it for me. Please.' Looking back she realises that the signs were clear then if only one of them had stopped long enough to look for them. Serena pouts only a little and then concedes, slipping her feet out of her shoes and tucking her knees up to her chest on the lumpy mattress. Bernie twitches the blanket over her, turns out the light.   
'I'll come and get you if anything comes up.'   
She didn't end up going to wake her until half an hour after their shift finished and found her exactly as she had left her, still fast asleep. She roused her only enough to get her upright and to her car so she could drive her home, deposited her in her own bed and spent the evening with Jason, teaching him how to make his own Wednesday night spaghetti.

* * *

 

The next time Serena gets sick Bernie is in the Ukraine and only finds out because she receives a text from Jason stating that he is worried about the brunette. Although they've spoken briefly since she left she's still not sure where exactly they stand and so she is sneaky.   
She speaks to Raf and Morven, finds out that Serena has had what she is claiming is only a heavy cold for days but both doctors know that it's more likely the flu. They've been lucky, the ward had been quiet and Serena has spent a lot of time catching up on paper work but she's still ill and they are both worried about her.   
It takes her a couple of hours to come up with a plan but as soon as she does she's quick to act.   
She calls Hanssen personally and asks him to deal with the staffing situation on AAU so that Serena can actually take her allotted days off, something which Raf also let slip hadn't been happening in her absence, then she speaks to Jason. It's a Tuesday which means it's Shepard’s Pie night and she encourages him to check the kitchen to see if the makings of the meal are already there. Once she hears back from him she does a food shop online, gets the rest of the ingredients Jason will need for dinner along with some soup, cold and flu remedies, some bath salts she knows Serena likes and a bottle of Shiraz for when she is feeling better and gets it sent to the house.  
When everything has arrived she talks Jason through making dinner through FaceTime, hangs up when they hear Serena come home, still not sure how Serena would feel about here interference.  
She's climbing into bed hours later after eating her own dinner, having her own shower and trying not to think about how much she wishes she was there to actually look after Serena herself, when her phone pings across the room. She considers leaving it until the morning but then worries that it might be Jason so she gets up again, grabs the device and cocoons herself back in bed. It's not Jason but Serena .   
'Jason told me what you did today. Thank you, S x' she doesn't even think before she texts back, puts her phone on the bedside table and snuggles down, falls asleep with a smile on her face, misses the message Serena sends in reply.  
'No honestly, it means a lot. I, well, I miss you. I'm taking the day off tomorrow, Hanssen’s orders. Would it be ok if I called you?'

* * *

 

The day Bernie returns she can tell that Serena is hung over. It is written in the set of her shoulders, her mouth and the slightly heavier than usual concealer swept beneath her eyes. Before Serena has chance to spot her Bernie slips into their shared office, much tidier for her absence, stows her bag under the desk out of sight and slips back off the ward in search of coffee and pastry.   
When she gets back, Serena is at her desk, head in her hands, shoulders slumped and Bernie barely resists the urge to reach out to her, rub her shoulders.  
"Hey," she starts with instead and Serena's head whips up, she grimaces at the movement, "I brought coffee and pastry,"  
"You're back," Serena looks stunned and Bernie is confused, surely someone would have told the brunette to expect her co-lead back on the ward, she’s happy to note that behind the confusion there is a hint of happiness in the other woman's eyes.  
"Didn't anyone tell you?" She asks, sliding the coffee onto the desk beside Serena's hand and dropping herself into the visitors chair which is pulled right up to her desk, " I spoke to Ric last week..."  
"No, Ric neglected to mention anything, Henrick will be lucky if the hospital is still standing when he comes back at this rate." She chuckles humourlessly, pulling her coffee towards her and cupping it in both hands, "When did you get back into the country."   
"This morning," Bernie shrugs "and just in the nick of time by the looks of it, I thought you said you'd cut back on the Shiraz?" It had been an ongoing conversation between them in the weeks following Serena's flu and the total dissolution of the hostility between them, she knew that it was something that Serena was concerned about, how much she was relying on a glass or two (or three) of wine to get her through the night and it was something that had worried Bernie too.  
"I did," Serena shrugs and looks away, "but this week, I don't know, it's been tough and last night..."  
"You should have told me," Bernie chastises gently, scooting the chair closer and covering Serena's hand with her own, "I'd have come back sooner."  
"I didn't want you to worry, I'm ok really, just a blip."  
"I'll always worry about you Serena, whether you tell me there's something to worry about or not, come here." She holds out her arms, pleased when Serena barely hesitates before leaning into her, almost burrowing into her shirt, she holds her tightly and presses a kiss to her head, stroking her hands soothingly over her back, "I'm sorry I haven't been here but I'm back now and I promise I'm not leaving again. I'll take anything new that comes in today, you just focus on paperwork and keeping yourself hydrated,"  
"But you..."   
"But nothing," she murmurs, pressing another kiss to the brunettes cheek, "as soon as this shift is over I'm taking you home and I'm going to pamper you, no arguments you hear."

* * *

 

"Bernie Wolfe what have you been doing to yourself?" Serena says quietly, manoeuvring herself carefully down onto the edge of the blondes bed and stroking her fingers through her unruly hair. The steady beep of monitors is comforting, as is her ability to read them and understand what they are telling her, Bernie is stable and until the other woman wakes up there isn't much more information to be had.   
Serena had gotten the call while she was making them breakfast, getting everything prepared for Bernie returning from her morning run. She'd left the house so quickly that it wasn't until she reached the hospital that she realised she hadn't changed out of her slippers but she didn't care, she'd charged through the ED like she owned the place only to be told that Bernie had already been taken into surgery. She'd spent the following hour pacing backwards and forwards in their shared office trying to convince herself that no news could only be good news, that Bernie was fine.  
She takes the time to look over the body of the woman she loves, her face is pale, marred with scratches, the beginnings of a bruise at her temple, her right arm, tucked over her stomach is wrapped in bandage, the shoulder reset and held in place with a sling. She looks so small compared to the larger than life personality Serena has become more and more used to seeing and it breaks the brunettes heart.   
"Rena" her attention moves back to the blondes face which she finds scrunched up in confusion or pain she isn't sure which and she moves her fingers from blonde hair to brush across Bernie's cheek.  
"Shh darling, I'm right here, you're ok," she murmurs as the other woman's eyes flicker open, "you're ok,"  
"What..." Bernie croaks and she leans down to kiss her on the cheek then the forehead,  
"Someone wasn't paying attention to where they were running again," she mutters lightly, "apparently you took a tumble over a low wall. They've had to put a pin in your wrist and reset your shoulder but the rest is just bruising."  
"When can I go home?" Serena chuckles and busses her cheek lightly, it's good to know that the bump to the head hadn't effected Bernie the way it so easily could have done if the angle had been a little different or the impact a little harder.  
"As soon as they've cleared you post surgery I'll take you home and I won't be letting you out of my sight, you've taken several years off my life today."  
"I'm sorry, I had such plans for today too," Bernie smirks and Serena rolls her eyes,   
"As did I, you've quite ruined the surprise breakfast though I'm sure we can save it and have it for supper, the other things I had planned though I think will have to wait a while." Bernie pouts at that and Serena leans down to kiss it from her lips lightly,  
"I'm sure I can handle one handed for a while."   
"Oh no, the things I had planned for you need all of your faculties in tact Major, just think of it as ammunition to recover quickly!"

 


End file.
